Politics of A Secret War
by Col.Foley
Summary: Colonel Tom Ryan goes before a Senate oversight commite where he has to justify himself and his operations before them.


Colonel Tom Ryan was here again

Colonel Tom Ryan was here again. A secret meeting place for politicians on the edge of Washington. Where some of the nations most secret business occurred. He was there to deliver another report to men who may have not cared in the long run whether he should live or die.

But, it was his duty to make his report. And to fight for funds. He once more longed for the day when he carried a gun. A nice M-4, heck even on the firing range would be good. But that was rapidly becoming a poor substitute. He was rapidly craving it with less time, in stressful situations. It was no where near addicting, but then again, it might have been a little bit. He had been divorced, his affair was now over. All he had left was his job right now. A career officer.

He even once or twice considered giving Charlotte a call. But every time, he stopped, he would not admit defeat in such a manner. And he could never trust her fully again. If they got back together, it would be just a sham.

A secretary passed by him. He glanced at her, which turned into a curt nod. One in which she returned.

He turned left into the actual room, three senators, and seven representatives, along with a head clerk, were waiting for him.

"Ah, Colonel Tom Ryan, welcome back" A Junior Senator said.

"Yes Sir," Ryan said coolly sitting down next to his political aid, he hoped this one would go a lot better then Neil Crinzman.

"Well, what about the Afgahan?"

"As per your directives we have worked with GSG-9, and the military over there to go into the border region, even crossing into Pakistan for about an hour to go into a safe house."

"And what was there"

"Typical weapons and about seven tangos, Over all, pretty simple mission. In other areas we are making great progress."

"Like what" One of the Democrat senators said.

Ryan hated this the most, they all had an almost nauseatingly detailed account of the instance in the folders in front of them. The mere fact that they were asking was like they were cross examaning a witness, to see if he was lying about a testimony. It made him feel like he was on trial, and made him feel nervous.

"Well?"

"Sir, a raid in northern Iraq produced more evidence of weapons shipments to insurgents, and a raid in Turkey intercepted one such shipment."

"So you are violating the Sovereignty of a Sovereign nation to do your work" The same man asked.

Tom had to bite his lip in order to calm himself.

"No, they knew we were there, they were just not sure of what we were doing necessarily. We raided the complex with a minimal of casualties."

"And what evidence do we have that they were bound for Iraq"

"Shipping orders from the enemy, and from the Intel gathered in the field."

"Which could have been planted."

"Yes, but then again we are also working on flying pig technology."

"Colonel" The man beside him wondered, and warned.

"I will not let my good name be smeared, again. We act always on the best information, and we get some of the best information in the world. We have also been recently in Beirut to track down key terrorist threats, and have eliminated them."

"But at cost"

"They join my organization with certain expectations that they die."

"Right"

" And frankly, I am getting insulted at the mere idea of this meeting. I am tired of coming here and defending myself in front of this august body. For the simple reason that you have all the information that you could ever need. You also have all the information right there, the truth. And then you have me come here."

He allowed his frustrations to over flow, he was hurt, and uncertain. He did not know what he wanted to do. He knew though that he could be doing more then, missions that were being run that he should at least be in his office should something happen. Should they need to do something, should the need his help with something. Should they need to make strategic decisions that only someone with over twenty years of experience could give them. And Jonas was not there, nor was the rest of his Alpha team.

He really had lost so much over his career in the secret war. This war that for some began in the late eighties, for others with the Iranian hostage crisis, and for still others when Delta was formed those many years ago.

It had only been official since the day of the two planes flying into the WTC. And even then the war only started to heat up. It was never really a war. Just a series of missions, trying to save lives. And protect the forces of good, or at least the better forces. And they had done a marvelous job at that.

"And your request for more funding, I wonder if you are aware that we are in a recession Colonel?"

"Yes, I am. And it can be done. If you stop the pet projects that you have with health care, although fortunately I am not a politician."

"But, come now Colonel, those save lives, surely you don't object to that."

"No, but I can still use that money."

"Well, if you are sure, you are right, it is all in here in the report. Very well, in one more month we can do this again. Thank you for your time colonel."

Ryan nodded curtly as he got up and left the room, turning the way he came.


End file.
